Yarn crimping apparatus



Nov. 15, 1966 P. w. LANGWAY ETAL 3,284,868

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS PM A A N6 WA ATTORNEY Nov. 15, 1966 P. w. LANGWAY ETAL 3,284,868

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed May 4, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

VIKA/ INVENTORS PAUL W- LA GM/A J 514/ ATTORNEY ART h- 47" By 3,284,868 YARN CRllVIPING APPARATUS Paul W. Langway, Claymont, and Ewart H. Shattuck, Wilmington, Del., assignors to Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 4, 1962, Ser. No. 192,532 10 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to yarn crimping apparatus of the stufier crimper type and more particularly to apparatus wherein the crimping chamber is formed by a stationary plate and a moving tape.

An object is to provide apparatus of the above type having novel and improved characteristics.

Another object is to provide an improved apparatus of the above type wherein the crimped yarn is packaged in the form of a compacted core for further processing.

A further object is to provide an apparatus wherein a compacted core of crimped yarn is advanced at a controlled -rate for processing.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

In accordance with this invention the yarn or filaments are fed into a crimping chamber between a pair of feed rolls to be folded over and crimped by the pressure of the packed mass of previously crimped yarn in the chamber. The crimping chamber is formed by a fixed plate on one side and a moving tape on the other side. The plate and the tape are disposed in planes adjacent and parallel to the end surfaces of the feed rolls in a position to receive the yarn as it advances from the bite of the feed rolls.

The plate is of a length to carry the packed core of crimped yarn to a discharge point after intervening processing or to a point of winding onto a core package. The tape is disposed to confine the core of crimped yarn in its path of travel along the plate, and in the case of a core package, is wound together with the core on a sleeve or mandrel. The plate guides the core to the point of winding on the core package and may be made to flex to conform to the increase in diameter of the package as the winding progresses.

For direct processing the core may be heated or subjected to a setting fluid for setting the crimp in the yarn while the core is on the plate.

The nature of the invention will be better understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which certain specific embodiments have been set forth for purposes of illustration.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a crimping apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1 but on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a partial section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1 but on the same scale as FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5 but on a larger scale;

FIG. 7 is a partial section taken on the line 77 of FIG. 5 on the same scale as FIG. 6, and

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view illustrating a further embodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings a yarn 10 is guided through a trumpet 11 to the bite of a pair of feed rolls 12 and 13 mounted on shafts 14 and 15 re- United States Patent 0 "ice spectively. The shaft 14 is shown as journalled in a block 16 and carries a gear 17 meshing with a gear 18 on the shaft 15. The shaft 14 is coupled to be driven by a motor 19. The shaft 15 is journalled in a pivoted arm 21 biased by a spring 22 to hold the roll 13 in feeding engagement with the roll 12.

A plate 30 is mounted on a support 31 forming a part of the block 16 and extends upwardly from the feed rolls 12 and 13 with its lower end disposed over and closely adjacent the end surfaces of the feed rolls. The plate 30 is made thin and flexible for the purpose to be described and has a smooth convex surface 33.

A tape 38 is fed from a tape reel 39 mounted on a bracket 40 around a guide roll 41 located in advance of the feed rolls then over the end surfaces of the feed rolls 12 and 13 and under an adjustable shoe 42 having an adjusting screw 43 for adjusting the clearance between the tape and the adjacent end surfaces of the feed rolls, thence along the convex surface 33 of the plate 30 and under a shoe 44 mounted on cars 30a at the upper end of the plate 30. The shoe 44 may be replaced by a grooved roll similar to the roll 77 of FIG. 5, if desired. The position to which the shoe 42 is adjusted controls the leg length of the crimp. That is, the closer the shoe is to the feed rolls, the finer the crimp, and vice versa. A friction drag 45 controlled by weights 46 is provided to retard the unwinding of the tape from the reel 39.

The tape 38 and the plate 30 form with the bite of the feed rolls 12 and 13 a confined crimping chamber. As the yarn 10 is fed by the feed rolls 12 and 13 into this confined chamber, against a mass of previously crimped yarn already confined in the chamber, it is folded over and crimped by the back pressure of the mass of crimped yarn. The mass of crimped and compacted yarn forms a core 34 of crimped yarn in the space between the tape 38 and the plate 30.

The guide roll 41 is mounted on a shaft 35 which is connected through a gear box 36 to be driven at a predetermined fixed ratio with respect to the shaft 14. The rate of advance of the core 34 is controlled by the tape 38 which is fed by the driven roll 41 and causes the core 34 to advance along the surface 33 of the plate 30. In its path of movement the tape wraps itself around the core to confine the top and sides of the core 34 as it advances and to maintain the same under a compacting pressure as shown in detail in FIG. 4.

As the core 34 leaves the end of the plate 30 it is wound together with the confining tape 38 on a perforated sleeve 50 of a spool51 to form a core package. The spool 51 is mounted on a sleeve 52 which is keyed for reciprocating movement on a shaft 53 journalled in a bracket 5311. A yoke 54 reeiprocated by a cam 56a engages a grooved collar 55 to cause reciprocation of the sleeve 52, so as to lay the core and tape in the form of a succession of convolutions and in a plurality of layers with successive turns of the core 34 separated and confined by the tape 38. The shaft 53 carrying the package is driven by a suitable motor (not shown) through a friction clutch which limits the torque applied to the shaft.

The free end of the plate 30 rests on the core winding on the package and flexes outwardly as the diameter of the package increases so that the core 34 is guided at all times to the bite between the package winding and the tape and is thus-supported and held confined by the tape and plate.

The plate 30 may be heated by a resistance rod 47 in the block 31 so that the crimped core is under heat as it is fed to the package. This heating may constitute pretreatment to condition the yarn for further treatment in package form to set the crimp.

After processings the package may be unwound and the yarn extracted therefrom in any convenient manner such as in an apparatus of the type disclosed in Pat. No. 2,997,747 dated August 29, 1961.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 7 the crimped yarn is processed in core form without being wound into the form of a core package. In this form a yarn 60 is fed through a trumpet 61 to the bite of a pair of feed r-olls 63 and 64 mounted on shafts 65 and 66 respectively. The shafts carry meshing gears 67 and 68, the former being coupled directly to the shaft 65 of a driving motor 70. The shaft 65 is journalled in a block 71 and the shaft 66 is journalled in an arm 73 similar to the arm 21 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 which is spring pressed to hold the rolls 63 and 64 in yarn feeding engagement.

A rigid plate 72 is mounted on the block 71 and is formed with a convex surface 74 extending from an inlet point over the end faces of the feed rolls 63 and 64 to a fixed discharge point. An endless tape 75 extends over the plate 72in a manner similar to the tape 38 of FIGS. 1 to 4. The tape 75 passes around guide rolls 76 to 79 and is driven by feed roll 80 which is connected through a gear box 80a, to the driven shaft 65. The guide roll 76 is disposed adjacent the end surface of the feed rolls 63 and 64 and the guide roll 77 is mounted adjacent the discharge end of plate 72. The latter roll is grooved to cause the tape to conform to the contour of the yarn core 84. The guide roll 77 may be replaced by a fixed shoe similar to the shoe 44 of FIG. 1 if desired. The plate 72 may be heated by resistance rods 81 for subjecting the crimped yarn in the core to a setting temperature as it advances along the plate. A setting agent such as hot air or a liquid may be passed through the core while in the treating zone on the plate 72, depending upon the type of yarn being treated. A fixed shoe 85 is shown as disposed over the end face of the rolls 63 and 64 to close the space between the rolls and the tape 75. However this shoe can be omitted if the tape itself extends over the roll surfaces to form a confined crimping chamber at the bite of the rolls.

The crimp set yarn is removed from the core 84 at a point in advance of the guide roll 77 and exit end of the plate 72 onto a winder 86 driven by a motor 88. The relative rates of the winder 86 and of the tape feed is controlled by a feeler roll 90 mounted on an arm 91 adjacent the end of the plate 72 and spring-pressed against the tape 75. The feeler roll 90 actuates a rheostat 92 or the like connected to control the rate of the motor 70 or of the motor 88 so that when the yarn is Withdrawn at a rate to allow the feeder roll to be depressed the winder motor 88 is slowed down or the tape feed motor 70 is speeded up and vice versa. In this way the discharge point is maintained at the zone of the feeler roll 90. In this embodiment the rate or feed of the tape with respect to the rate of the feed rolls 63 and 64 is set in accordance with the back pressure which is to be exerted by the core 84 upon the yarn being fed into the crimping zone from the bite of the feed rolls 63 and 64. The length of the plate 72 is determined by the time which is required for the treatment of the packed core before the yarn is extracted therefrom. As the core is advanced by and with the tape the length of the core path does not affect the back pressure on the yarn in the crimping zone at the bite of the feed rolls 63 and 64.

Referring to FIG. 8, a pair of blocks 95 are disposed adjacent the periphery of feed rolls 12 and 13 and are adjustably secured to the support 31 by means of a pair of screws 96 extending through elongated slots 97 in the blocks. The blocks 95 are formed with arcuate surfaces 98 which are adjusted to have a running clearance with the feed rolls 12 and 13, and their adjacent surfaces 99 define the crimping chamber.

This embodiment is particularly useful for small denier filaments which would tend to adhere to and feed around the rolls 12 and 13 is unrestrained. The blocks 95 tend to strip these filaments from the feed rolls and froma confined crimping chamber at the bite of the rolls.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for crimping yarn comprising a fixed plate adapted to support and guide a core of crimped yarn along an arcuate path between inlet and discharge points with at least a portion of the sides of the core exposed above the surface of said plate, a flexible tape engaging the core and extending along said path to hold the core compacted against the surface of said plate, guide means mounting said tape to envelop at least a portion of the exposed sides of said core on said plate whereby the tape and plate together substantially enclose said core as it advances in said arcuate path along said plate, a pair of feed rolls having a bite disposed to feed a yarn into a crimping chamber between said tape and said plate at said inlet point to be folded over and crimped against the mass of previously crimped yarn in said core and means advancing said tape with said core along said arcuate path to said discharge point.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said tape passes around a guide roll at said discharge point to expose said core at said point, means to withdraw the crimped yarn from said core and a feeler member engaging said tape adjacent said guide roll and adapted to control the relative rates of said yarn withdrawing means and said advance of said tape for maintaining said end of the core at said zone of the feeler member.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the tape is supported on a pair of guide members disposed at the respective inlet and discharge points of the plate, the guide member at the discharge end being grooved to conform to the cross section of said core whereby the tape is caused to remain in uniform confining contact with the core during movement thereof toward said last guide member.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said feed rolls are formed with flat end surfaces and the plate and tape are disposed in planes adjacent and parallel to said end surfaces and extend over a portion thereof to form with the bite of said feed rolls a confined crimping chamher.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 in which said plate and said tape extend over at least a portion of said end surfaces.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a winding spindle disposed to receive the core from the discharge point of said plate to be wound together with said tape thereon in a succession of convolutions with the core in each convolution confined by the tape, the discharge point of said plate engaging and resting upon the winding on said spindle.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said plate is flexible and is adapted to flex to accommodate variations in diameter of said winding as the winding progresses.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 including means for heating said plate for thereby applying setting heat to said yarn while confined by said tape and said plate.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said feed rolls are formed with flat end surfaces and the plate and tape are disposed in the planes adjacent and parallel to said end surfaces and form with the bite of the feed rolls a confined crimping chamber and an adjustable shoe engaging said tape adjacent the bite of said feed rolls and positioned to adjust a clearance of the tape with respect to sa id feed rolls for thereby controlling the crimp characteristics.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including a pair of blocks substantially co-extensive axially with said feed rolls and having arcuate surfaces disposed with a running clearance with respect to the peripheral surfaces of said feed rolls, said blocks having adjacent surfaces spaced to form with said tape and plate a confined crimped chamber.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Shattuck 2872 Russo et a1 281 5 Russo et a1. 2872 Rainard et a1 28-1 Mattson 281 Heijnis 2872 6 FOREIGN PATENTS Ad. 65,531 10/1955 France.

MERVXN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER,

Examin rs.

H. G. GARNER, H. S. IAUDON, Assistant Examiners. 

1. APPARATUS FOR CRIMPING YARN COMPRISING A FIXED PLATE ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE GUIDE A CORE OF CRIMPED YARN ALONG AN ARCUATE PATH BETWEEN INLET AND DISCHARGE POINTS WITH AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE SIDES OF THE CORE EXPOSED ABOVE THE SURFACE OF SAID PLATE, A FLEXIBLE TAPE ENGAGING THE CORE AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID PATH TO HOLD THE CORE COMPACTED AGAINST THE SURFACE OF SAID PLATE, GUIDE MEANS MOUNTING SAID TAPE TO ENVELOP AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE EXPOSED SIDES OF SAID COPE ON SAID PLATE WHEREBY THE TAPE AND PLATE TOGETHER SUBSTANTIALLY ENCLOSE SAID CORE AS IT ADVANCES IN SAID ARCUATE PATH ALONG SAID PLATE, A PAIR OF FEED ROLLS HAVING A BITE DISPOSED TO FEED A YARN INTO A CRIMPING CHAMBER BETWEEN SAID TAPE AND SAID PLATE AT SAID INLET POINT TO BE FOLDED OVER THE CRIMPED AGAINST THE MASS OF PREVIOUSLY CRIMPED YARN IN SAID COPE AND MEANS ADVANCING SAID TAPE WITH SAID CORE ALONG SAID ARCUATE PATH TO SAID DISCHARGE POINT. 